Forecast

Senate OKs nearly billion-dollar bond package

Ken Dixon| on May 6, 2014

HARTFORD -- Early childhood education, a $25 million shoreline resiliency fund and $20 million more to promote homeownership in cities, including Bridgeport, Stamford and Norwalk, are among the centerpieces of long-term capital bonding introduced Tuesday night.

The Senate approved the nearly billion-dollar bond package with little discussion in a late-night 30-6 vote. The bill then went to the House, which has a midnight Wednesday deadline to act before the end of the General Assembly's 13-week budget-adjustment session.

The list of projects includes $60 million for towns and cities to share for their highway departments.

Three million dollars was approved for the reconfiguration of a ramp on the Merritt Parkway in Westport.

Other items, which will be scheduled for allocations by the State Bond Commission during the fiscal year that starts July 1, include:

$100 million for the Manufacturing Assistance Act.

$50 million for upgrades to the state comptroller's financial systems.

"We really, really need to keep our eyes on our debt levels, our bonded indebtedness levels," Frantz said, acknowledging the current low interest rates make capital investments even more attractive. "The market will absorb these bonds, but at some point, they might not. That strikes me as a lot. It's getting to be to the point where it's going to be very difficult to service this."